Hacker News Reader

Comment by Johnny555 | Hacker News Reader

I don't think you've ever seen a child in Anaphylactic Shock if you think all you need to do is train the child to use a vial and needle. Even training school personnel is not a great idea - While an ER nurse or paramedic can handle it because they give injections every day, a teacher or even a school nurse may go for years without ever needing to do an epinephrine injection and the stress and inexperience may make them unable to perform under pressure of having a child dying in front of them.

An IM injection is easy to do when you're calm, but just filling the syringe can be difficult when you're under intense pressure.

View on HN

I wonder why glucagon isn't done in the same format as EpiPens are. I'm a T1 diabetic and I have one glucagon vial at work and one at home. In the case I go low (barely responsive low) someone has to go grab it from the fridge (it needs to be there) load the syringe and use it on me.

When people sleep over I teach them how to use it and I do something like a show and tell at job from time to time so new people know about it.

It's not just 'load' the syringe. There's a liquid and a powder that has to be mixed. First, the liquid is injected into the powder. Remember to remove the protective cap from the vial and the two protective caps from the needle (apparently, people frequently forget the one on the vial and break the syringe). Then, mix by rolling, not shaking, for 30 seconds. Then, withdraw the mixture into the syringe and inject it.

Not only does it need to be kept refrigerated, the shelf-life isn't that long to begin with (about a year).

I'm also a T1D and there's a reason that, despite the various seizures I've had in my lifetime, I've never received Glucagon.

Cake icing squirted between your gum and cheek also works (although everything ends up sticky and blue by the end of it).

Edit: I didn't mean to sound like you didn't know what you were talking about, I just wanted to expand on what you were saying about 'show and tell'

Is there a reason the syringes can't be pre-filled so that the step of filling from the vial needn't be done under pressure?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com